A heritage sculpted over time
The enchantment of the peaks carved in time.
The Dolomites represent a set of various mountain systems that show an extraordinary geomorphological unity. Their complex geological structure originated in the Triassic (about 250 million years ago) from the accumulation of shells, corals and algae in areas with different latitude and longitude from today's, where warm, shallow seas existed. These sediments then turned into rock and the subsequent clash between the European plate and the African plate brought the rocks to the surface, raising them to over 3000 metres above sea level.
The Dolomites present a monumentality, originality and spectacularity that characterize them and distinguish them from all other mountains in the world.
These morphologies are linked to the current climatic conditions and to those that have occurred in recent geological eras.
Among these we find some testimonies that can be traced back to periods before the glacial ones or to other intermediate temperate ones, but above all forms of glacial erosion and accumulation: smooth rocky humps streaked by the action of ice, suspended valleys, cirques, morainic deposits, traces of ancient frozen soils, evidence of the pressure exerted by the glacial masses. The morphology of the recent and current climatic conditions is mainly related to the actions of frost-defrost and the force of gravity: aquifers, cones and debris cords at the base of the slopes, rock walls also self-propelled with ice cores, corridors and avalanche cones. A recurrent aspect of this same variety and morphological complexity is that of landslides, with all possible types, up to showy and spectacular cases that have now become part of international scientific literature. A local example is the wide range of karst forms, both superficial, such as furrowed fields, sinkholes and springs, and underground, such as caves and swallow-holes.
The Dolomites therefore represent an open-air high-altitude laboratory of a geomorphological heritage of exceptional world value.